‘Give small business a round of applause’; Marmen Energy celebrates 10th year in Brandon, forthcoming expansion that creates 50 new jobs

As Marmen Energy realizes its 10th year in business, the Canada-based wind tower manufacturer is also celebrating expansion of its Brandon manufacturing facility.

Last week, Marmen Energy broke ground on a 15,000 square-foot addition that will bring the overall facility to about 260,000 square feet. The expansion creates 50 new jobs, mostly in welding roles, with some support staff. The addition is expected to be operational by October.

Recently promoted to plant manager, Danny Lueders, expressed Marmen’s appreciation for being part of the Brandon business community.

“Not only is today about announcing our expansion, but we also kicked off our celebration for being 10 years in this great community. We’ve been fortunate to be part of Brandon and the surrounding community and we’re grateful for the support of the community and state leaders, along with everyone else who has been part of our success,” he said.

Marmen’s success, according to Pierre-David Paquette, vice president of Wind Tower for Marmen, is its employees.

“Let me start with thanking everyone, first for being here, but mostly all of our team members in the back. They are the reason why Marmen is in business and they are our pride and joy,” he said. “I also want to thank all of our partners, whether it be in schools or economic development, building this place has been a team effort and we’re very excited to continue forward with this addition in the hope of bringing even more team members. Just like any company, that’s our biggest challenge right now, but working together with the partners again, we feel comfortable that we will fill all these positions.”

Along with Marmen administration, other Brandon dignitaries also spoke at the ground-breaking celebration, including Rachael Neiman, CEO/president of the Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce.

“I’d like to thank everyone at Marmen for choosing Brandon 10 years ago for your company location and wow, look at you guys now,” Neiman said. “You are here celebrating your success with this expansion, which is amazing. We look forward to our continued partnership in promoting workforce development and can’t wait to see what the future holds for manufacturing and renewable energy.”

On behalf of the Brandon Development Foundation, chairman Chuck Parsons thanked Marmen for being a great corporate partner.

“We’re really excited that Marmen has come to our community, expanded in our community and become part of it by serving on local boards. We really appreciate that, and we appreciate the workers that Marmen has brought to the area.”

“It’s cool to think that 20 years ago partners from the Sioux Falls Develooment Foundation, MCEDA (Minnehaha County Economic Development Association), the city of Brandon, the Brandon Development Foundation, Sioux Valley Energy, First National Bank and more came together to help create the Corson Industrial Park partnership that has now paid dividends back for this community, this region and thi county,” said Jesse Fonkert, president/CEO of Sioux Metro Growth Alliance. “It’s amazing to see how this stuff comes full circle now to the expansion here that’s allowed your company to grow and expand and further employ people in this community.”

Brandon City Council president Barb Fish recalled the year 2010, when the mammoth building that now houses Marmen Energy “was just a shell of a building” being developed by another business.

“That didn’t come to fruition, and I personally was concerned what we were going to do with this big building,” she said. “We were very fortunate to have Marmen come in and take it over and make what you’ve done with it to today. We really appreciate that.”

Fish also recognized that Marmen is a family-started company. 

“(That’s) just a perfect example of how small business is so important to Canada and the U.S., and where would we be without our small business people?” she asked.

Marmen has about 250 employees on its Brandon payroll. Company-wide, that number is 1,400.

“Give small business a round of applause for that, would you?” Fish encouraged. “We’re very fortunate to have you folks here. We’re pleased with your success.” 

A brief Q&A revealed that Marmen manufactures about 1,000 sections annually, which equates to the production of 300 to 350 wind towers per year.

Apprenticeships are also highly valued at Marmen. Lueders said they work directly with the community, Brandon Valley High School and area tech schools in this realm.

“On top of that, we have full-time employees that are dedicated to training. We hire based off of your culture and your values. We want to make sure that you’re a good fit, and then we can pretty much train you to weld, to paint, some of those more technical jobs. We have an extensive training program to get those team members up to speed,” Lueders said.

The Brandon plant is the company’s only U.S. manufacturing site.

Wind towers manufactured at Marmen are sold to original equipment manufacturers, which then sell them to utility companies. In an attempt to control the high cost of transporting them, most of the wind towers are delivered to about eight states surrounding South Dakota.

Founded in 2013, Marmen Energy has become a leading player in the renewable energy industry. The company’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and skilled workforce have enabled the production of high-quality wind towers that meet the needs of customers across the continent.

To learn more about Marmen Energy, visit marmeninc.com/en.